Agrégateur de flux

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced that &#8211 for the first time &#8211 it would not suspend relief operations to vulnerable people in Zimbabwe during the spring and summer but continue food and cash assistance throughout the year.

Le Programme alimentaire mondial des Nations Unies (PAM) a annoncé que, pour la première fois, il ne suspendra pas ses opérations de secours aux personnes vulnérables au Zimbabwe durant le printemps et l'été, et continuera à fournir de la nourriture et une aide financière dans le pays tout au long de l'année.

Le Secrétaire général de l'ONU, Ban Ki-moon, a condamné jeudi le double attentat suicide meurtrier qui a eu lieu le 16 mars à Maiduguri, dans l'Etat de Borno, au Nigéria.

L'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) a annoncé jeudi la fin de la récente résurgence du virus Ebola en Sierra Leone, tout en avertissant que l'Afrique de l'Ouest demeure une région à risque et doit rester en état alerte.

A l'occasion d'une réunion du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU sur le Libéria, le Représentant spécial du Secrétaire général pour ce pays, Farid Zarif, a déclaré jeudi que l'approche de la date butoir pour le transfert des compétences sécuritaires de la Mission des Nations Unies au gouvernement libérien suscite un certain nombre d'inquiétudes parmi les autorités et la population du pays.

Le Conseil de sécurité a exprimé jeudi sa profonde inquiétude face à la situation qui règne au Soudan du Sud et a appelé les parties à respecter les termes de de l'accord de paix en août 2015.

Pascal Irenée Koupaki va sortir de sa réserve légendaire concernant les affaires dont on l'accuse. Attaqué par le président Boni Yayi (lire ici l'article) et par certains soutiens de Lionel Zinsou, PIK a décidé de donner sa part de vérité sur cette affaire. 

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La ligne d'arrivée est en vue. Le marathon présidentiel touche à sa fin. Nous disposerons, sous peu, d'assez d'indices pour esquisser le portrait-robot du quatrième Président du Renouveau démocratique.

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A la faveur d’une conférence de presse animée hier, mercredi 16 mars 2016, le secrétaire général du ministère de la santé, Christian Boni Chaffa a présenté la situation épidémiologique de la fièvre hémorragique à virus Lassa qui sévit au Bénin depuis le mois de janvier 2016.

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March 16, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Vice-President Hasabo Mohamed Abdel-Rahman Wednesday discussed with the British Ambassador to Khartoum Michael Aron bilateral ties between the two countries besides Sudan's dialogue and peace processes.

Vice-president Hasabo Mohamed Abdel-Rahman

Abdel-Rahman urged the United Kingdom government to take positive stances during the upcoming round of talks with the rebel groups in order to achieve peace and stability in Sudan.

For his part, Aron told reporters following the meeting that the head of the African department at the British Foreign and Commonwealth office would visit Sudan on Sunday to initiate a new strategic dialogue with Khartoum.

He added the British official will meet with Sudan's foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour besides other Sudanese officials.

The British ambassador expressed his country's readiness to support efforts to achieve peace in Sudan, pointing to the visit of the African mediation Thabo Mbeki to Khartoum on Wednesday.

He stressed the importance for holding a comprehensive national dialogue, expressing optimism over the results of the upcoming talks between the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Addis Ababa.

The Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 201.

Last November the two warring parties failed to reach cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements, as the five-day talks showed that important gaps persist in the positions of the two sides.

A Strategic Consultations Meeting between the two parties under the auspices of the African mediation would kick off on Friday in Addis Ababa to resume negotiations for peace and democratic reforms.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

March 15, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Two international right groups have urged the United Nations Human Rights Council, to pay very close attention to the human right violations allegedly committed in Eritrea.

A general view of participants during the 29th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 3 July 2015 - (UN Photo)

While delivering a statement on Monday before the UN Human Rights Council, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project expressed concern over the deteriorating human rights situations and on the conditions of political prisoners.

The UN's report says the Eritrean regime continues to commit systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations that may constitute crimes against humanity.

In 2014, the UN established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate rights abuses in the secretive East African nation and assigned Sheila Keetharuth of Mauritius as its Special Rapporteur.

The Commission of Inquiry was meant to pave the way to establish accountability for the gross rights violations however that was difficult as Eritrea closed its doors and authorities decline to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur.

The UN council's special Rapporteur then accused the Eritrean government of ignoring the Council's demand for the government to facilitate unrestricted access to visit the country and provide information necessary for the fulfillment of its mandates.

The two rights group said, large numbers of Eritreans are fleeing the country to escape life-long military service and denial of their fundamental rights.

According to the groups, authorities in Eritrea tolerate no independent media outlets and have been holding dozens of journalists and activists incommunicado for years.

A the occasion, RSF stressed the importance of renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur and the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea, which has been gathering valuable information on the situation in the country.

The two non-governmental entities also urged the Council to demand that the Eritrean government provide proof of life of those detained and that it free all journalists, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

“We also urge the Council to renew the Special Rapporteur's mandate, and to demand that the Government provide proof of life of those arrested and release all journalists, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience” said a joint statement of the right groups.

Recently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea assured the UN Council of his country's commitment to human rights and human dignity as a "top priority" and of its full engagement in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a process which offers the international community an opportunity to inspect how well individual states are complying with international human rights law.

Despite the pledge, however, it was disclosed that there exists lack of commitment from regime in Asmara.

“Reporters Without Borders and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project further express concern by the gap between His Excellency's description of the situation in his country and the systemic, widespread and grave human rights violations documented by the Special Rapporteur and the Commission of Inquiry on Eritrea” the groups said.

Referred by right groups as the North Korea of Africa, the reclusive Red Sea nation is one of the world's most repressive nations.

Currently there are some 10,000 political prisoners in atrocious conditions in different prison facilities across the country where they remain subjected to different forms of abuses. The government uses arbitrary arrest and detention without charge to crush all opposition and to silence any sort of dissent.

Opposition parties are banned and there is no single opposition party which functions in the country. Moreover, anyone who attempts to challenge President Isaias Afeworki or criticises his government will be jailed without trial in the most harsh conditions.

(ST)

March 16, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, has issued a republican order appointing members of legislative assembly for a newly created Latjor state in implementation of the new 28 states he created in October last year.

South Sudan's president, Salva Kiir, says regional leaders are not doing enough to quell rebellion in the country, which erupted in mid-December last year

This comes after the unilateral decision to divide up the country and expand the constitutionally recognized 10 states to 28, despite signing a peace agreement to end 21 months of war with armed opposition and other stakeholders on the basis of 10 states in August 2015.

President Kiir issued order number 130 on 25 February, 2016, appointing 21 members of parliament after several months of consultations among communities members and party officials in the area about criteria to be followed for the selection and which of the parties to be represented in the parliament.

13 members of parliament, according to the order, are nominees of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) faction allied to President Salva Kiir and 7 other members from come from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) faction allied to the First Vice President designate, Riek Machar.

One member, bringing the total number of legislators to 21 members, was appointed to represent natives of the area residing abroad in recognition of their contributions in various ways in the area.

Governor Peter Lam Both, speaking at the swearing in ceremony during election of speaker of the new state parliament on Wednesday, said his state welcomes any citizen from any corner of the country to stay and live in the area, regardless of whether they are from West and Eastern Nile states or from other states in the country.

Latjor State Information Minister, Peter Hoth Tuach, commended Governor Both for exhibiting exceptional leadership and said he expressed optimism that the parliament and the executive would harmoniously work together to sensitize citizens about the significance of peace, unity and reconciliation.

LATJOR PARLIAMENT ELECTS ITS FIRST SPEAKER

Parliament of a newly created state of Latjor, curved from Upper Nile state, Wednesday has elected its first speaker of parliament.

Tuach has revealed that members of the Latjor State Legislative Assembly have elected Chuol Dep Kier as the speaker of the newly established parliament.

“South Sudan's Latjor State Legislative Assembly members have unanimously elected Hon. Chuol Dep Kier as Speaker of The House and Hon. Tut Simon Kor as Deputy Speaker as well,” Tuach revealed on Wednesday.

He congratulated the two top parliamentary leaders on their elections. Tuach however did not say where the elections took place, either in the national capital, Juba, or in Nasir, the new capital of the state.

Kier previously served as deputy speaker of Upper Nile state parliament before the 2013 crisis in the country.

Latjor state is inhabited by the Jikany Nuer section in Upper Nile region. Its capital, Nasir, has been a contested town between government troops and forces of the armed opposition faction led by the first vice president designate, Riek Machar.

The new state, according to the August 2015 peace agreement between president Kiir and opposition leader Machar, will be governed by the opposition faction along with another oil rich Unity state.

President Kiir, when appointing governors for the new 28 states, however told the governors of the states curved from Upper Nile and Unity to be ready to vacate their seats once the opposition group nominate their governors for the states.

(ST)

March 16, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan's national army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), has distanced itself from reports charging that some of its soldiers and officers have been grabbing land in and around Juba in a manner indicative of the practice having become an official policy of the government and the army.

SPLA soldiers in Malakal, capital of the battleground oil-state of Upper Nile on 15 May 2014 (Photo AFP/Ivan Lieman)

Deputy chief of general staff for operations, Lieutenant General James Ajonga Mawut, said on Wednesday that land grabbing, either by any officer or soldier, was not a policy of the general command of the SPLA or the government of the republic of South Sudan since inception as regional government in 2005.

“We have said time and again that these allegations of land grabbing, which some people have been trying to associate with SPLA has not been our practice. It is not the policy of the SPLA as the army of South Sudan to grab land. If there are individual soldiers and officers involving in this practice, we ask members of the general public and particularly those affected by the unruly and unfriendly behaviour to quickly bring up the matter to the attention of our relevant offices at the general headquarters,” General Mawut said in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

“I am sure the deputy chief of general staff for administration and finance would be able to handle it. I am sure he would work to find an appropriate office to look into these allegations and take appropriate measures to address the matter if it is established that those involved are active SPLA members,” he assured.

Mawut also confirmed reports that a joint military command from the Republican Guards known as Tiger Division, under the overall command of Major General Marial Chanuong, together with the guards of General Thomas Cirillo, have forcefully recovered land previously and illegally grabbed by some SPLA elements in Buduge village located east of Rejaf at the outskirts of the national capital, Juba.

The village is a home to the deputy chief of general staff for training, Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo.

The commander of presidential guards force division, General Chanuong, last week visited the area and reportedly ordered the arrest of the ring leaders for what he described as irresponsible act that would have nearly caused an eruption of a bloody conflict between the members of ethnic Bari from the area and those from Dinka ethnic group who illegally attempted to acquire and own the land in the area.

It remains unclear how the issue developed and escalated to a high level tension between the two communities. Sources have been giving conflicting accounts. Military sources say the problem surfaced after General Thomas Cirillo, himself an ethnic Bari, reportedly protested the act at a meeting with the top SPLA generals, including the chief of general staff, Paul Malong Awan, at the general headquarters in Bilpham, north of Juba town.

It was reportedly in this meeting where General Cirillo was allegedly seen displaying his anger at the manner in which people have moved into his village and warned he would leave the army and go to the bush to fight against land grabbing.

As a result of his anger and threats, the army command instead decided to launch an operation against the land grabbers, who reportedly come from the Dinka ethnic groups of Bor and Padang.

(ST)

March 16, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on security cooperation between the two countries.

Director General of the Sudanese Police First Lieu. Gen. Hashim Osman al-Hussein (SUNA Photo)

The MoU, which was signed on the sidelines of the seventh edition of the International Exhibition for National Security and Resilience (ISNR) in Abu Dhabi, aims to promote cooperation in the fight against crime besides exchange of experiences in areas of training, information and best police practices.

The MoU was signed by the Director General of the Sudanese Police First Lieu. Gen. Hashim Osman al-Hussein and the UAE's Under-secretary of the Ministry of Interior Lt. Gen. Saif Abdallah Al-Sha'far.

Sudan appears to have managed to achieve a breakthrough in ties with UAE after a long period of strained relations over Khartoum's close ties with Tehran.

UAE is in a long-standing territorial dispute with Iran over the three Gulf islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunb.

Iran refuses international arbitration over the dispute and insists that its sovereignty over the islands is non-negotiable.

Last year, Sudanese authorities ordered the closure of Iranian cultural centre in the capital Khartoum, and other states in a move which was seen as gesture to the Arab Gulf states.

Earlier this week, the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir expressed hope that Sudan could join the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), describing Sudan's relationship with all leaders and peoples of the Gulf States without exception is excellent.

(ST)

24 heures après son éclatement, l’affaire usurpation de titre de magistrats mise au grand jour par le président de l’Union nationale des magistrats du Bénin (Unamab), Michel Adjaka, connaît un nouveau rebondissement. Dans la soirée d’hier, mercredi 15 mars 2016, dans un post intitulé :

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March 16, 2016 (EL - GENEINA) - Unidentified armed group has killed a Chadian commander from the Joint Sudanese-Chadian border patrol forces late night on Tuesday in West Darfur state.

Chadian army officer Maj. al-Nur Abdel-Karim (ST Photo)

A security source in West Darfur state capital, El-Geneina Wednesday told Sudan Tribune that Maj. al-Nur Abdel-Karim, commander of Baida area, 70 km. south west of El-Geneina was killed by masked gunmen while on patrol in Al-Duh area, 3 km. west of Baida.

He added that the gunmen seized the commander's Land Cruiser vehicle, saying the stolen car broke down in Rigl Al-Harazaya area between the localities of Baida and El-Geneina.

The same source stressed that the joint force failed to capture the culprits due to poor weather conditions but later apprehended five suspects and they are currently under investigation.

Sudan and Chad established a joint force in January 2010 to monitor their borders within the framework of a normalisation process after long years of proxy war in Darfur and eastern Chad.

The joint force faced immense difficulties particularly with regard to actions of rebel groups and carjacking bands from both countries.

Also, the conflicting Misseriya and Salamat tribes in the bordering town of Um Dokhon accuse some Chadian soldiers within the joint force of being biased toward one of the parties which led to the killing of a Chadian soldier and injury of two others in November 2013.

(ST)

March 16, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan government troops and its armed opposition forces violated the permanent ceasefire five times, between 28 December 2015 and early March, the Ceasefire and Transitional Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM), said.

Government's top negotiator Nhial Deng Nhial (L) exchanges a signed ceasefire agreement with the head of the rebel delegation Taban Deng Gai Addis Ababa, ((Photo Reuters-Birahnu Sebsibe)

The country's main warring parties had reported eight incidents of clashes between them, but the CTSAMM could not confirm three cases.

“But both parties were implicated in the violation reports that were tabled today in the meeting,” Ruth Feeney, CTSAMM's strategic communications officer told reporters in Juba after a meeting attended by representatives from both sides.

The CTSAMM, Feeney said, confirmed that the warring factions have clashed in Western Equatoria, Western Bahr El Ghazal and in the Greater Upper Nile region.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the body mandated to oversee the implementation of the peace agreement, will name the party responsible for the ceasefire violations, she said.

Feeney also observed that the CTSAMM was facing some problems, specifically hinged on the restrictions imposed on their movement.

“Every day, the MVT faces restriction on the freedom of movement. So it is actually an ongoing thing, we are not having difficulties in one area or another. Across the board, we are facing restrictions on our movement, which does not comply with chapter two stipulations,” she said.

The official was optimistic that the parties' continued disagreement on cantonment areas will not frustrate implementation of the peace deal.

“I don't think so,” said Feeney, adding “But the groups [government and opposition] should declare the numbers of soldiers and weaponry to help in monitoring and verification of ceasefire violations”.

The peace agreement aimed to end the 21 months of war in the South Sudan conflict and to form a Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), which will run the country for two and a half years at the end of which a general election shall be conducted.

(ST)

La Marine nationale poursuit le renouvellement de sa flotte de surface et plus particulièrement de ses frégates, épine dorsale des forces navales françaises. Troisième de ses huit nouvelles frégates multi-missions (FREMM), le Languedoc a été officiellement livré hier par DCNS à l’Organisation conjointe de coopération en matière d’armement, structure internationale en charge de la gestion de programmes militaires entre pays européens.

• Lire la suite de Languedoc : Une nouvelle frégate pour la Marine nationale

Les activités pour le compte du second tour du scrutin présidentiel de mars 2016, reprennent de plus belles. C'est le constat fait hier dans la ville capitale et ses environs. C'est ou du moins ce qu'il convient de retenir suite aux descentes dans les rues des partisans du candidat Lionel Zinsou pour rallier les indécis à leur cause
La stratégie a changé cette fois-ci. La communication de proximité est de mise et l'accent beaucoup plus mis sur des sensibilisations ciblées. Une manière de partager (...)

- Actualité

A csütörtök-pénteki újabb migrációs csúcstalálkozó előtt már nem is a migráció tűnik a legnagyobb problémának.